Re: IML: Stainless steel top a 60 imp

[randalpark@xxxxxxx]

THANK YOU RICHARD!

This means that some were and some were not. It would be interesting to 
know if this as an early model/late model thing, or if it was/was not 
done for some other reason. The cars that I found the spot welds on 
were Sedans. It would also help to determine if there is a way of 
knowing whether or not there are spot welds prior to disassembling the 
car. I would still like to find a pair of useable panels to install in 
my parents car.

Thank you again Richard for "chiming in". If anyone has an non-spot 
welded pair please let me know. I will pay a very good price for them. 
Bob H????

Paul W.

-----Original Message-----
From: lecrown60@xxxxxxxxx
To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Thu, 29 Mar 2007 6:03 AM
Subject: Re: IML: Stainless steel top  a 60 imp

Hi All,
 
I have a Crown sedan with dealer installed (I have the invoice) 
stainless.  Not welded.
I had a LeBaron sedan, Not welded
I had a LeBaron Southampton hardtop, welded. 
 
Go figure.  Maybe they started out welding them and then decided why 
are we bothering?  Likely it was a cost cutting measure mid year. 
 
Richard Burgess
'60 Crown sedan


randalpark@xxxxxxx wrote:
Some of them are spot welded. I have personal experience to prove that.

I incorrectly assumed they all were, since my dad and I took apart
three separate cars in a wrecking yard here, back in the '70s to find a
set that we could add to our Custom Sedan. The plan was to install them
when we replaced the cloth headliner. That didn't get done until years
later by yours truly. Eventually, we removed one of these sets by
laboriously breaking each of the welds with a chisel. It took hours. My
father was incredulous. He was a welding engineer, and could not
believe that the company had done this. Of course they were destroyed
in the process, and I did not install them when I replaced the
headliner years later. Due to this thread, I intend to ask him if he
still has those panels. He hasn't thrown anything away in years, so I
believe that he might have them some place. If so, I will photograph
them and report back.

The question has now become why some were and why some were not. It is
true that they are decoration only, but for some reason some cars had
the panels spot welded in place under the trim. When this thread ran a
few years back some members reported that they had seen both situations.

Larry Blomberg from our friendly nation "down under" has reported that
his LeBarons don't have spot welded panels. Since they were standard on
LeBarons, that meant that they were installed at the factory without
the spot welds. This disproved the theory that factory installed panels
were spot welded, and after market ones were not. All '60 LeBarons came
with the panels, so they were all factory installed.

I am tempted to take the roof on my own '60 LeBaron apart to see how
its panels are fastened. I have lots of other car projects to do and I
don't wish to disturb that head liner at this time. I think I would
have to in order to properly remove the Landau trim. Someday that rear
window roof insert needs to be fixed, so there may be a reason to do
all of this then. It would be easier if someone else who has seem the
spot welded panels would chime in.

Paul W.

-----Original Message-----
From: jsadowski@xxxxxxx
To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Wed, 28 Mar 2007 6:15 PM
Subject: Re: IML: Stainless steel top a 60 imp

The stainless panels are not a structural part of the roof, They are
decoration only. They are not spot welded. The metal is far too thin to
do so without distorting & discoloring it. Once you have one of these
in hand, you'll see how it fits right under the trim around the entire
perimeter.
John
----- Original Message -----
From: Bogart3147@xxxxxxx
To: mailing-list@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx
Sent: Wednesday, March 28, 2007 4:26 PM
Subject: Re: IML: Stainless steel top a 60 imp


> From reading these messages, I'm wondering if maybe the stainless
inserts that were optional equipment were spot welded because it was
less expensive than using a LeBaron roof.

I haven't compared them up close and personal, but I've worked at a fab
shop and learned few things (not much, since I worked in the office).
My question is that if this was standard on the LeBaron, was the
stainless in the back a separate piece from the front part of the roof,
thereby requiring the metal to be thick enough to support the roof,
i.e., the front and rear portions of the roof were stamped separately,
then put together? On the Crowns and Customs, they could have taken a
standard roof Crown/Custom roof, used much thinner stainless and
applied it for appearance only.

I think the dealer installation idea is good, too. A buyer finds the
car they want, but they want the stainless partial roof, so the dealer
sells them the car and has it applied himself, thereby selling his own
inventory and not having to place a special order with the factory.

Just some ideas on what they might have done, but, like I said, I
haven't been able to compare them up close.

Timothy



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